Grass and Brush Fire on Bald Hill, Ross October 14, 1967, and the resulting line of duty death of Lake Tender/Firefighter Raymond Paul Halderman of the Marin Municipal Water District, today the job known as a Ranger.
According to the Marin Independent Journal, a grass and brush fire burned atop Bald Hill on October 14 at 2:13pm in Ross, and resulted in a firefighter death. Over 55 acres were scorched, including 40 in Ross, and 15 on unincorporated Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) lands. The fire was accidentally started by a teenage boy using sterno to cook. Invented around 1900, Sterno (known as "canned heat") is a fuel made from denatured and jellied alcohol. Designed to be burned directly from its can, it was commonly used by soldiers in the field for cooking starting in World War I.
Raymond Paul Halderman, 56, served as a Lake Tender for MMWD, what today is called a Park Ranger. He had been pulling fire hose up the hill at the fire, and collapsed from a heart attack while opening a fire trail gate. He was given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and “heart massage”, the accepted procedure of the time that would later become CPR.
Halderman had been an employee of MMWD for two years. He had complained of having chest pains shortly before his collapse, and was reported dead on arrival at Marin General Hospital at 4:35pm. A World War II veteran, he was a native of Middletown, Ohio, and had lived in Marin since 1961. He was survived by his wife Elizabeth, two sons Robert and Ronald, his mother Elsie, his sister Melba Childress and brother Gene, both of Hamilton, Ohio.
The blaze was fought by firefighters from the Ross, San Anselmo, Marin County fire departments, along with MMWD employees. A bulldozer was used to construct a fire trail to help with the fight.
Raymond Paul Halderman, 56, served as a Lake Tender for MMWD, what today is called a Park Ranger. He had been pulling fire hose up the hill at the fire, and collapsed from a heart attack while opening a fire trail gate. He was given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and “heart massage”, the accepted procedure of the time that would later become CPR.
Halderman had been an employee of MMWD for two years. He had complained of having chest pains shortly before his collapse, and was reported dead on arrival at Marin General Hospital at 4:35pm. A World War II veteran, he was a native of Middletown, Ohio, and had lived in Marin since 1961. He was survived by his wife Elizabeth, two sons Robert and Ronald, his mother Elsie, his sister Melba Childress and brother Gene, both of Hamilton, Ohio.
The blaze was fought by firefighters from the Ross, San Anselmo, Marin County fire departments, along with MMWD employees. A bulldozer was used to construct a fire trail to help with the fight.
An aerial photo of Bald Hill in Ross from today. San Anselmo is in the upper right, Ross in the lower right, and MMWD lands on the left and lower portions including Phoenix Lake.